Brown, Portman hopeful after talk with Trump
CONGRESS
WASHINGTON – Ohio’s two U.S. senators said they are cautiously optimistic about Congress’ chances of passing comprehensive tax reform after a meeting at the White House on Wednesday.
Republicans and Democrats from the Senate Finance Committee — including Sens. Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman of Ohio — huddled with President Donald Trump to push their respective priorities for tax reform.
Speaking briefly at the beginning of the meeting, Trump said the current proposal would increase the child tax credit, end the estate tax and cut the corporate tax rate to no more than 20 percent.
“This is a once-ina-lifetime opportunity, in my opinion,” said Trump, adding that “the timing is right.”
Brown, a Democrat who has found common ground with Trump on some trade and U.S. manufacturing issues, used the meeting to push for the increase in the child tax credit — something Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, has advocated — as well as expanding and increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit.
Brown also pushed a proposal he has authored that would reward companies that keep jobs in the United States.
Afterward, Brown said it was his first visit with Trump at the White House. He was encouraged by the conversation.
Trump, Brown said, “says this is about a middle-class tax break that doesn’t give the richest 1 percent a tax break.”
However, Brown said he’s concerned that the framework released by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell would benefit the richest. He said he’s hopeful that Trump will stick with the principles outlined in the meeting, and he said Trump expressed tentative support for Brown’s ideas.
“I think he could make a deal with the Democrats, and there would still be a bill he’d be happy with,” Brown said of Trump, noting that the president used the words “bipartisan” and “middle class” several dozen times.
“He kept saying that’s what he wants to do,” he said. “And we kept pointing out that the bill doesn’t exactly do that, and he said, ‘We’ll fix it,’ and I hope he does.”
Portman, meanwhile, called the meeting “productive.”
Both parties, the Republican said, “agreed tax reform should focus on helping middle-class families, and that’s what our plan does.
“Our tax-reform framework will help create more jobs, increase wages, and encourage more investment and opportunities in America,” Portman said after the meeting. “I remain optimistic that, by working together, we can simplify and reform our outdated tax code on behalf of middleclass families and small businesses.”